Triathlon man Brent McMahon clears brutal obstacles

Victoria athlete's incredible resolve earns him place on Canadian team

Brent McMahon, left, and Simon Whitfield of Canada make the transition between the swim and the bike race during the ITU Edmonton World Cup Triathlon at Hawrelak Park on July, 10 2011, in Edmonton.

Photograph by: Greg Southam
, edmontonjournal.com

For Victoria's Brent McMahon the last four years have been the roller coaster ride of all roller coaster rides.

Passed over by Triathlon Canada for a berth on Canada's 2008 Olympic triathlon team, the now 31-year-old McMahon was named to the 2012 edition Tuesday along with Victoria's Simon Whitfield, Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., Edmonton's Paula Findlay and Montreal's Kathy Tremblay.

"It's been a fantastic but challenging couple of years," McMahon said Tuesday.

No kidding. The road from Beijing to London has been an obstacle course.

It all started when Triathlon Canada named the lower-ranked Colin Jenkins to the 2008 Olympic team so he could serve as a 'domestique' for Whitfield. McMahon appealed the selection process and lost. Whitfield went on to win a silver medal.

McMahon recovered from that disappointment and had a career best 2009 season only to suffer a career-threatening knee injury in 2010 that would end up sidelining him for 18 months. He was then dropped from the national team.

Triathletes have two years to secure enough International Triathlon Union points to qualify for the Olympics. After missing so much time, McMahon had to maintain a blistering 20-race, 13-month schedule to secure enough points to qualify.

"I definitely went through ups and downs and I didn't know whether I was going to make it or if I had the strength to do it," McMahon said of his four-year test of character.

Of course there were times when McMahon, 39th at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, thought about packing it in.

"I thought about that," he admitted. "I took some time away and thought about it. But I love the sport. Athens was a great experience but it wasn't how I wanted to finish my Olympic career.

"I had worked hard to qualify for Beijing but there were some things I knew I could improve upon. I wasn't happy that I'd done everything I could. That set me on another four-year journey."

It wasn't easy. After trying to battle through chronic tendinitis in his knee, he would shut things down in the fall of 2010. Eventually he began swimming without a kick. He graduated to brief walks, then long walks and jogging. He had physiotherapy five days a week.

But as McMahon took that journey there were a lot of people who kept believing.

For support he relied on his parents, his partner Carolyn Cooper, his coach Lance Martin, his physiotherapist Jamie Grimes and Todd Levins a Victoria naturopathic doctor.

"They were all there for me every step of the way," McMahon said. "Any time I felt like I couldn't do it or I was too tired they were there helping me. A lot of time and a lot of sup-port from a lot of people has made this journey possible. It has come to a positive end."

Then there was Triathlon Canada's faith.

No longer on the national team McMahon was ineligible for Sport Canada funding and team benefits. But Triathlon Canada officials decided to support him financially so he could race and earn points for Canada.

They also made McMahon an offer - win that third spot and he'd get a cash bonus.

"It was going to be really hard to have a full Olympic team of three men with only two guys [Jones and Whitfield] out there competing," explained Triathlon Canada executive director Alan Trivett.

"He was our hired gun. We said if you get that spot we'll give you [a cheque]. We told him we'd pull the plug at any time if he wasn't on track to do that."

On May 28th McMahon finished 24th in a race in Madrid. It was far from the podium but good enough to beat Portugal's Joao Pereira and earn Canada its third spot.

"One of my best experiences in sport has been working with Brent through this," said Trivett.

"All along he knew that earning the third spot for Canada didn't guarantee him an Olympic spot. But at the end of the day he was able to achieve that. I told him I was really proud of him and that he was going to go to the Olympic Games. I told him he'd earned that spot for us and he'd earned the right to be the guy."

So now it'll be Whitfield, the 2000 Olympic gold medallist and the 2008 silver medallist, Jones and McMahon lining up for Canada on Aug. 7. The women will race on Aug. 4.

And unlike Beijing, there'll be no domestique. All three men will be free to run their own race but also expected to help a teammate if necessary.

Tuesday they sounded like the three amigos.

"We have a good team dynamic," McMahon said. "We have the skills to complement each other and we understand intuitively how each other races and how to help each other.

"If you watch [previous] races you'll see us working together and watching out for each other. Our main goal is to represent Canada and have the best performance we can give."

"We all understand how the race will unfold, with a group trying to make a break out of the water," explained Whitfield.

"The way Kyle, Brent and I ride, we'll work together to close that down if it's in all of our best interests. I know we'll work together to chase down that gap."

Whitfield is also amazed by McMahon's comeback.

"It's a remarkable comeback for Brent," he said. "It's unprecedented in triathlon, at least, and across a lot of sports. Not a lot of guys are taking 18 months off and fighting their way back like Brent has.

"I'm very proud to be on the team with them [McMahon and Jones]."

FINDLAY WORKS TO REGAIN TOP FORM, BUT PROSPECTS ARE MADE MURKY BY HIP INJURY

Edmonton's Paula Findlay was the world's fastest-rising star in the triathlon until she was tripped up by a hip injury.

She says the Olympic triathlon might be her first race this year.

Findlay's medal prospects are murky. Ranked No. 1 in the world early last year, a hip injury made her shut down her 2011 season down early.

The 23-year-old is training and babying her with intensive physiotherapy. Findlay currently has no races scheduled prior to London.

"Right now, it's a day-to-day management thing," Findlay said.

"I can run pain-free, but I'm not out of the woods. I'm not sure if I'm going to race before London, which is not ideal, but it's sort of the way things have played out. I don't have a lot of time left. I can do some good quality training sessions, but I think doing a race at this point might be a little unrealistic."

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